Assignment history — US Patent 12122824

Inventors

Diane D. Harrison (Janssen Biotech Inc.)
Elizabeth C. Hsia (Janssen Biotech Inc.)
Lee-Lian Kim (Janssen Biotech Inc.)
Kim Hung Lo (Janssen Biotech Inc.)

It is assumed that the inventors were employees of Janssen Biotech Inc. at the time of filing, as the patent was originally assigned to Janssen Biotech Inc. No unusual patterns, such as all inventors departing the original assignee within 12 months of filing, were identified.

Original assignee

The original assignee is Janssen Biotech Inc. [cite: Original Assignee].
Janssen Biotech Inc. is a pharmaceutical company that develops and markets medicines for a wide range of human medical disorders, including autoimmune diseases. They are a wholly-owned subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. The patent US12122824 is titled "Anti-TNF antibodies, compositions, and methods for the treatment of active ankylosing spondylitis," which aligns with Janssen's focus on immunology and related products like Tremfya, used for Psoriatic Arthritis. Janssen Biotech Inc. appears to ship products embodying the claims, as indicated by their business in developing and commercializing therapeutic antibodies. For example, they are involved in the development of Tremfya (guselkumab), an IL-23 inhibitor for psoriatic arthritis.

Janssen Biotech Inc. is currently operating, though Johnson & Johnson announced in September 2023 that the "Janssen" brand name for its pharmaceutical division will be phased out and recast as "Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine" as part of a corporate rebranding.

Assignment timeline

I searched the USPTO Assignment Center for patent number 12122824. The search did not yield any recorded assignment records for this specific patent. This indicates that the ownership has likely remained with the original assignee, Janssen Biotech Inc., since the patent was granted.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 12122824
    2021 : Filed by Janssen Biotech Inc
    2024 : Issued to Janssen Biotech Inc
    2026 : Litigation initiated
         : PTAB case filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

Shell-entity transfer — Not present. The patent was granted to Janssen Biotech Inc., a known operating pharmaceutical company, and no transfers to shell entities have been recorded.
Known asserter in the chain — Not present. Janssen Biotech Inc. is an operating company and is not identified as a known NPE.
Repeat correspondent across the chain — Not present. There are no recorded assignments in the chain for this patent, therefore no recurring correspondents.
Cascading transfers — Not present. There are no recorded assignments.
Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. The patent remains with the original operating assignee, Janssen Biotech Inc. While litigation has been filed (a US case in Delaware District Court and a PTAB case IPR2026-00258, both around March 2026 [cite: Google Patents]), there is no evidence of a transfer preceding this litigation.
Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. Janssen Biotech Inc. is an active, operating subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. There is no indication of bankruptcy proceedings.
Privateering — Unclear. There is no direct evidence from the assignment records to suggest privateering. While Janssen Biotech Inc. is involved in litigation [cite: Google Patents, 5, 8, 14, 15], this is against competitors or for alleged false claims, which is typical of an operating company asserting its own rights or defending its products.
Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The patent is held by Janssen Biotech Inc. and has not been transferred to a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion

The patent US12122824 remains assigned to Janssen Biotech Inc., the original assignee and an operating pharmaceutical company, since its issuance. There are no recorded assignments indicating a transfer of ownership to any other entity. The ongoing litigation concerning this patent, as noted in Google Patents, involves Janssen Biotech Inc. as the patent holder, which is consistent with an operating company asserting its intellectual property rights [cite: Google Patents]. This suggests the patent is being used for offensive purposes by an operating company against competitors or in defense of its market position, rather than by a non-practicing entity. You can verify the assignment record (or lack thereof) at the USPTO Assignment Center by searching for patent number 12122824: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/.